Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged in private that Russia is difficult to negotiate with because they "want the whole thing," referring to Ukraine, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the comments.
A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"We have a plan B and a plan C. But our focus is plan A, the essence of which is to get everyone's support" for Ukraine's accession, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
"(T)he presence at the Victory Parade of a country that bombs cities, hospitals, and daycares, and which has caused the deaths and injuries of over a million people over three years, is a shame," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
"According to the participants of the performances, their goal is to remind the civilized world of the barbaric actions of Moscow, which for many years and decades has systematically violated international law," a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
"I have great hope that an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine will be reached this weekend," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 9, shortly before traveling to Kyiv alongside the leaders of France, Poland, and the U.K.
An image of a robotic platform shared by Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on March 12, 2024. (Mykhailo Fedorov / Telegram)
Ukraine plans to mass-produce mobile robots capable of mining, demining, operating attack drones, evacuating wounded soldiers, and transporting ammunition, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced on March 12.
The primary purpose of the unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is to keep human involvement on the battlefield to a minimum, thereby reducing the number of soldiers being killed or injured, Fedorov said.
"It is an asymmetric response to the enemy's numerical superiority," Fedorov said. Russia has a larger pool of potential recruits for the military, as its population is more than three times the size of that of Ukraine.
Kyiv is also facing critical ammunition shortages, as $61 billion in funding from the U.S. remains stuck in Congress. Russia, meanwhile, is set to produce nearly three times as many artillery munitions as the U.S. and Europe this year.
"The robots have successfully proven themselves on the training ground, in a few months they will be on the battlefield," Fedorov said.
The minister described the technology as "the next game changer of this war," in the same way "drones already are."
According to Fedorov, there are currently 140 robotic systems registered on Brave1, a state platform for defense technology coordination, and 96 have successfully undergone testing.
Brave1 "is doing everything to scale up the production of robots, and the government is starting to buy them en masse," as the Ukrainian government did with drones, Fedorov said.
While the technology is still being developed, both the Ukrainian and Russian armies are already using remote-controlled technologies on the battlefield.
Fedorov said that Ukraine has deployed the ChaBla robotic turret, a remote-operated machine gun system, to the front line.
Ukrainian reconnaissance units reportedly witnessed Russian soldiers using remote-controlled vehicles the size of cars to deliver ammunition at the start of Russia's offensive on Avdiivka in October 2023.
Elsa Court is the audience development manager at the Kyiv Independence. She previously worked as a news editor at the Kyiv Independent and was previously an intern at the Kyiv Post. She has a Master’s in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University. Elsa is originally from the UK.
Asami Terajima
